Consultants

1
Consultants

• Ling 426 Field Methods
• Spring 2005

2
Overview

• What is a consultant?
• Selection
• General ethnographic information
• Specific linguistic information
• Role of dialects
• Permission
• Locating
• Preliminary Interview
• Payment

3
What is a Consultant?

• Historical term informant
• Loosely one who gives information (Jackson
  19877)
• Problematic connotations (informer)
• But other words no better

4
Beyond the Semantics

• Functions
• Subject
• Representative respondent
• Surrogate census-taker
• Observers observer
• We become informants as well when we report our
  findings

5
Selecting Consultants

• General ethnographic information
• Theoretical
• About the profession
• Specific language information
• Practical
• About the target language

6
General Ethnographic Information

• Criticisms of field work
• Qualitative methods too subjective, not
  replicable
• Quantitative methods mismatch between measures
  and reality

7
Replication

• Not a historical consideration
• Generates disapproval
• Fail to mention methods
• Too territorial
• Dues-paying (shrouding methods)
• Should be just as concerned about scientific
  procedures

8
Replication Partial Solution

• Staggered replication within/across sites
• Reduce bias
• Increase number of cases (but cost to quality)
• Increase contrasting cases
• In short, look for
• Statistical representative
• Theoretical representative
• Practically train three or so they can know how
  to investigate, be intermediaries, and know how
  to give information with precision (e.g.,
  observables)

9
Johnsons Two Paths to Selection

• Path 1 theory driven
• Criteria 1 categories determine in advance
  theoretical categories (apriori research)
• Criteria 2 Personality of consultant
• Path 2 data driven
• Criteria 1 Discover emergent categories (ad hoc
  investigation and discovery)
• Criteria 2 Personality of consultant

10
Specific Language Information

• Nidas 7 qualifications
• Age
• Gender
• Aptitude (but somewhat nonanalytical)
• Knowledge of LF
• Communicative personality
• Role in community
• Acceptable social group

11
Specific Language Information

• Ladefogeds 5 qualifications
• Mother tongue
• Age (prefers younger to older)
• Daily usage
• Possesses all teeth
• Possesses normal hearing

12
Role of Dialects

• Attitude of purity
• Boundaries
• Political
• Geographical
• Social
• Racial
• Labovs criteria for gradient stratification
  occupation, family income, education

13
Getting Permission

• Whos granting?
• Subjects
• Speech community
• University and government
• Human subjects and UW
• Human subjects and LSA
• Human subjects and ASA
• Tension
• Who controls the data?
• Whose interests are being protected?
• Level of involvement?

14
Location, Location, Location

• Not looking for the perfect consultant
• Levels of formality
• Word of mouth
• Announcements
• Hierarchical introductions

15
Preliminary Interview

• Get acquainted time
• Investigate goodness of fit
• Might ask (to self)
• Does person have access to information?
• Will the person share the information?
• Give as much information as possible
• Archives (preserved, listened to, released)

16
Sample Recording

• Get pictures, artifacts, word list, etc.
• Test equipment
• Begin with announcement or marker
• Date and year
• Name of consultant you are going to meet
• General plan of what youll talk about
• Self
• Tape number

17
Payment

• Trickier than it seems
• Questions
• Should consultants be paid? How much?
• Payment method? In-kind gifts?
• What do you get in return for payment?
• Do you have the right to listen? Record? Play
  recordings for others? Lease information?

18
Cultural Side to Payment

• E.g., Cheyenne
• Children take food to elders to pay for stories
• Ceremonial instruction is quite expensive
• E.g., 500 rifle, all of ones possessions
• While you wont have to give up your possessions
  for this class, what are you willing to give?

19
Others Views

• Pay
• If you have it, why not?
• If you get paid, they should be paid.
• Only if they are losing money by helping out.
• Share royalties after fieldwork costs.
• All the royalties I have a job and academic
  rewards.
• Dont pay
• Get fabrications for your money.